IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v380y2025ics0277953625006124.html

The predictive power of employment trajectories on cognition of older adults: Evidence from Chile

Author

Listed:
  • Delaporte, Magdalena

Abstract

Chile's population is rapidly aging, with a notable increase in the older population over recent decades. The growth in the proportion of older individuals has substantial implications for physical and cognitive health, healthcare expenditures and policies, given the escalating burden of age-related health conditions. Therefore, it is critical to have a deeper understanding of factors that predict healthy aging. This study explores the relationships between employment trajectories and later-life cognitive function among Chilean adults. Using data from a sample of Chilean adults aged 60–79, this study examines employment histories spanning 36 years (1980–2015) and their associations with cognitive outcomes assessed in 2019. Applying Group-Based Trajectory Modeling (GBTM), I identify distinct employment trajectories for women and men, which I then link to cognitive function through linear regressions. Findings suggest that individuals with more sustained labor-force participation exhibit better cognitive outcomes, particularly in memory and executive function domains, with notable differences by gender. Specifically, women entering the labor-force later in life display better cognitive performance compared to women with low participation in the labor-force throughout adulthood, while men with extended employment histories show positive associations with cognition regardless of whether they exit the labor-force around retirement age or not. These findings highlight the potential cognitive advantages of prolonged employment, contributing to research on social determinants of cognition in later life. This study offers a critical input for labor, health and old-age pension policies, in an aging population such as in Chile.

Suggested Citation

  • Delaporte, Magdalena, 2025. "The predictive power of employment trajectories on cognition of older adults: Evidence from Chile," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 380(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:380:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625006124
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118281
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625006124
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.118281?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dante Contreras & Gonzalo Plaza, 2010. "Cultural Factors in Women's Labor Force Participation in Chile," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(2), pages 27-46.
    2. Liew, Tau Ming & Ang, Li Chang, 2024. "Examining the non-linear effects of education on Alzheimer's and non-Alzheimer's disease: Sex-stratified analysis of 17,671 older persons," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 348(C).
    3. Janet Currie & Tom Vogl, 2013. "Early-Life Health and Adult Circumstance in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 1-36, May.
    4. Kanika Arora & Lili Xu & Divya Bhagianadh & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "Dementia and Cognitive Decline in Older Adulthood: Are Agricultural Workers at Greater Risk?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(8), pages 1629-1643.
    5. Leist, Anja K. & Glymour, M. Maria & Mackenbach, Johan P. & van Lenthe, Frank J. & Avendano, Mauricio, 2013. "Time away from work predicts later cognitive function: differences by activity during leave," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 51630, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Ariane Bertogg & Anja K. Leist, 2023. "Gendered life courses and cognitive functioning in later life: the role of context-specific gender norms and lifetime employment," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, December.
    7. Hui Liu & Zhenmei Zhang & Seung-won Choi & Kenneth M Langa & Deborah Carr, 2020. "Marital Status and Dementia: Evidence from the Health and Retirement Study," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 75(8), pages 1783-1795.
    8. Francisco Parro G. & Loreto Reyes R., 2019. "Economic growth and the Chilean labor market," Journal Econom a Chilena (The Chilean Economy), Central Bank of Chile, vol. 22(2), pages 070-095, August.
    9. Mariela Gutierrez & Morten Wahrendorf & Sadaf Milani & Silvia Mejia-Arango & Rebeca Wong & Brian Downer & Jessica Kelley, 2024. "The Influence of Education and Occupation Type on Birth Cohort Differences in Cognitive Function of Mexican Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 79(1), pages 1-262.
    10. Pekkarinen, Tuomas & Vartiainen, Juhana, 2002. "Gender Differences in Job Assignment and Promotion in a Complexity Ladder of Jobs," Working Paper Series 184, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    11. Jennifer Rusmaully & Aline Dugravot & Jean-Paul Moatti & Michael G Marmot & Alexis Elbaz & Mika Kivimaki & Séverine Sabia & Archana Singh-Manoux, 2017. "Contribution of cognitive performance and cognitive decline to associations between socioeconomic factors and dementia: A cohort study," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(6), pages 1-17, June.
    12. D. Contreras & L. de Mello & E. Puentes, 2011. "The determinants of labour force participation and employment in Chile," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(21), pages 2765-2776.
    13. Morten Wahrendorf & Hanno Hoven & Christian Deindl & Thorsten Lunau & Paola Zaninotto & Jennifer Ailshire, 2021. "Adverse Employment Histories, Later Health Functioning and National Labor Market Policies: European Findings Based on Life-History Data From SHARE and ELSA," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(Supplemen), pages 27-40.
    14. Ross Andel & Michael Crowe & Nancy L. Pedersen & James Mortimer & Eileen Crimmins & Boo Johansson & Margaret Gatz, 2005. "Complexity of Work and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A Population-Based Study of Swedish Twins," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 60(5), pages 251-258.
    15. Devillanova, Carlo & Raitano, Michele & Struffolino, Emanuela, 2019. "Longitudinal employment trajectories and health in middle life: Insights from linked administrative and survey data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 40, pages 1375-1412.
    16. Lisa L. Barnes & Robert S. Wilson & Liesi E. Hebert & Paul A. Scherr & Denis A. Evans & Carlos F. Mendes de Leon, 2011. "Racial Differences in the Association of Education With Physical and Cognitive Function in Older Blacks and Whites," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 66(3), pages 354-363.
    17. Wilbert van der Klaauw, 1996. "Female Labour Supply and Marital Status Decisions: A Life-Cycle Model," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(2), pages 199-235.
    18. Madero-Cabib, Ignacio & Biehl, Andres, 2021. "Lifetime employment–coresidential trajectories and extended working life in Chile," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ignacio Cabib & Carlos Budnevich-Portales & Ariel Azar, 2022. "Adulthood Employment Trajectories and Later Life Mental Health before and after the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-18, October.
    2. Dante Contreras & Agustin Hurtado & M. Francisca Sara, 2012. "La Excepción Chilena y las Percepciones de Género en la Participación Laboral Femenina," Working Papers wp374, University of Chile, Department of Economics.
    3. Pacca, Lucia & Gaye, S. Amina & Brenowitz, Willa D. & Fujishiro, Kaori & Glymour, M. Maria & Harrati, Amal & Vable, Anusha M., 2025. "Do type, timing and duration of life course non-employment differentially predict dementia risk? An application of sequence analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    4. Rodrigo Montero & Natalia Bernal, 2024. "Gender and Well-Being Disparities Among People who Work from Home in Chile," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(6), pages 1-22, August.
    5. Michelle Sheran Sylvester, 2007. "The Career and Family Choices of Women: A Dynamic Analysis of Labor Force Participation, Schooling, Marriage and Fertility Decisions," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 10(3), pages 367-399, July.
    6. Marcén, Miriam & Molina, José Alberto & Morales, Marina, 2018. "The effect of culture on the fertility decisions of immigrant women in the United States," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 15-28.
    7. Nandi, Arindam & Sahoo, Soham & Haberland, Nicole & Ngô, Thoại D., 2023. "A glass ceiling at the playhouse? Gender gaps in public and private preschool enrollment in India," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    8. Rania Gihleb & Osnat Lifshitz, 2022. "Dynamic Effects of Educational Assortative Mating on Labor Supply," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 46, pages 302-327, October.
    9. Miriam Marcén & Marina Morales, 2019. "Live together: does culture matter?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 671-713, June.
    10. Geetika Gunjan & Suresh Sharma, 2024. "Does livestock ownership contribute to animal-source foods’ (ASFs) consumption and children’s growth: a longitudinal study in India," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 26(2), pages 474-498, August.
    11. Eugene Choo & Shannon Seitz, 2013. "The Collective Marriage Matching Model: Identification, Estimation, and Testing," Advances in Econometrics, in: Structural Econometric Models, volume 31, pages 291-336, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    12. Lundborg, Per, 2005. "Wage Fairness, Growth and the Utilization of R&D Workers," Working Paper Series 206, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Elisabetta De Cao, 2015. "The Height Production Function from Birth to Age Two," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(3), pages 329-363.
    14. Michele Belloni & Claudia Villosio, 2014. "Training and wages of older workers in Europe," Working Papers 2014:27, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    15. Ahsan, Md Nazmul & Maharaj, Riddhi, 2018. "Parental human capital and child health at birth in India," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 130-149.
    16. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias & Costas Meghir & Jonathan Shaw, 2016. "Female Labor Supply, Human Capital, and Welfare Reform," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 84, pages 1705-1753, September.
    17. Giorgia Adani & Tommaso Filippini & Caterina Garuti & Marcella Malavolti & Giulia Vinceti & Giovanna Zamboni & Manuela Tondelli & Chiara Galli & Manuela Costa & Marco Vinceti & Annalisa Chiari, 2020. "Environmental Risk Factors for Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Dementia and Frontotemporal Dementia: A Case-Control Study in Northern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-18, October.
    18. Nicolas Berman & Lorenzo Rotunno & Roberta Ziparo, 2025. "Sweet Child of Mine: Parental Income, Child Health and Inequality," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 135(672), pages 2455-2482.
    19. Bharadwaj, Prashant & Fenske, James & Kala, Namrata & Mirza, Rinchan Ali, 2020. "The Green revolution and infant mortality in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    20. Cheng, Zhiming & Guo, Liwen & Smyth, Russell & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Childhood adversity and energy poverty," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:380:y:2025:i:c:s0277953625006124. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.